People on the Move

Friday, Feb. 22, 2019

Creative studio Versus adds sr. producer Tom Colabraro

Tom Colabraro

NEW YORK --

Full-service creative production studio Versus has hired Tom Colabraro as sr. producer. He will partner with ECD Justin Barnes and EP Rob Meyers to manage and execute Versus projects across all areas of production and post.

Colabraro has spent the last 14 years as a prolific freelance producer and consultant, managing and executing branded/original content projects for clients such as Converse, ESPN, HBO, Nike, Samsung, Uniqlo, and Red Bull. He has also served as the team marketing manager for 5BORONYC, where he built and managed an active roster of pro and semi-pro skateboarders as well as handling all marketing, original content, and social media.

Hugh Broder, an executive producer with agency, advertiser and production-side experience, has joined The Underground as EP/managing director to lead the three-year-old VFX company’s growth into full-service production as well as postproduction for commercials and other brand content.

Formerly head of production at BBDO Detroit as well as director of integrated production at Walmart, Broder joins the management team at The Underground’s parent company, P2P Group, which includes sister company P2P Retouching. P2P enjoys a well-established presence in the beauty industry with agency clients such as Gotham, McCann and Publicis and brand clients such as L’Oréal, Kind and Maybelline.

According to Broder, this new position is a perfect fit for him. “Throughout my career, I’ve always been a builder,” he said, referring to his oversight of multiple production operations. “This is a wonderful opportunity to grow a company that has so much to offer to both agencies and brands.”

At The Underground, Broder will work closely with creative director/lead Flame artist Nic Seresin, who joined the company last year. Recent projects include a direct-to-brand short film for Aston Martin as well as newly released music videos for Jihae, Showtek and Young the Giant. Recent agency clients include Anomaly, Saatchi and Publicis in New York, as well as Odysseus Arms in San Francisco.

Ben Bettenhausen, founder of P2P Group, said of Broder, “He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience, and a wonderful energy that will propel our growth into a 360-offering to our clients.”

The Underground is represented by Minerva, the business development company led by Partners Mary Knox and Shauna Seresin.

Crew Cuts has promoted Craig Rohrer, a seven-year veteran of the company, from jr. editor to editor.

Most recently, Rohrer worked on the comedic Spectrum “Monsters” campaign with creative agency Something Different. “This campaign has been the most fun for me,” stated Rohrer. “Each one of those spots can start and end in 20 different ways, so I really enjoyed finding the funniest bits and then cutting them all together.”

Born in New York and raised in Florida, Rohrer attended the University of Miami where he studied business management and was the captain of the university’s wakeboarding team. It was during his time in the latter capacity that he had his first exposure to video editing, filming his team’s competitions and cutting the footage. He grew to love editing, springboarding him to a postproduction career.

Design-driven animation and production company Laundry--under the aegis of partners PJ Richardson and Tony Liu--has brought Reza Rasoli on board as creative director and live-action director.

After steering the creative direction of Laundry since its launch 13 years ago, Richardson and Liu knew the time was right, given the company's growth, to welcome their first full-time staff creative director in Rasoli. Over the past decade, Rasoli has produced award-winning content for broadcast, web, social, print, and events worldwide. Prior to Laundry, Rasoli was creative director and live-action director at Pet Gorilla, where he helmed a mix of live-action and interactive projects for such clients as Google, IBM, HBO, and METRx. His animated piece for Vans’ 50th anniversary, entitled “The Story of Vans,” was honored with a One Show Merit Award and D&AD Award, and was shortlisted for an AICP Award for Design. More recently, his anthem spot for UnityPoint Health aired during the Super Bowl in the Midwest region.

As a director, Rasoli has also collaborated with such studios as Brand New School and Blind. He has also served as co-creator, co-writer, and co-producer on scripted comedy-driven animation for Disney and Nickelodeon.

While studying Digital Media at Otis College of Art + Design, Rasoli co-founded Three Legged Legs with two other artists. The collective became known for their pioneering and innovative work in short-form content, catching the attention of Green Dot Films, where they were repped as directors for three years and worked on notable projects, including the GE “Samurai” short, and a spot for Method and Virgin America.

Since 2015, Rasoli has been an adjunct teacher at Otis College of Art + Design, where he leads classes in Storytelling, Motion Design, and Experimental Animation. Forever an artist at heart, he regularly contributes paintings to galleries on both coasts, including Gallery 1988 (Los Angeles & New York), iam8bit (Los Angeles), Spoke Art (San Francisco), and Bottleneck Gallery (New York).

Visual effects, animation and stereo conversion company DNEG has hired Corey Turner, former SVP post production at Paramount Pictures, to head up the film team at its Los Angeles facility. Turner, who joins DNEG as head of production L.A., has years of hands-on experience in both VFX and stereo conversion. He will lead DNEG’s drive to establish its front-end creative services for film in Los Angeles and to set up a new base for the company’s L.A.-based VFX supervisors.

Working as a creative collaborator alongside directors such as Michael Bay, Christopher McQuarrie, JJ Abrams and Barry Sonnenfeld, Turner is known for his work as executive stereographer on all of Paramount’s 3D releases since 2011, including projects such as Bumblebee, Mission: Impossible – Fallout and Terminator: Genisys, as well as the Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchises in 3D. Turner has previously received award recognition from the Advanced Imaging Society for his work on projects such as Katy Perry: Part of Me and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.

DNEG CEO Namit Malhotra said of Turner,: “His experience in VFX and stereo conversion, along with his creative approach to his work and his extensive relationships in the LA filmmaking community, make him the ideal person to lead the charge in building DNEG’s film presence in Hollywood.”

In his new role Turner will help to build DNEG’s film VFX presence on the West Coast, including the establishment of concept art and previsualisation services at DNEG’s L.A. facility.

“I’m looking forward to this opportunity and to working with this incredibly talented team!” said Turner. “DNEG has been humbly capturing Oscars for the past several years. With each accomplishment DNEG stays true to its ambition of being a creative haven for filmmakers to make their visions, their designs, and their dreams a reality for television and movie fans around the globe. Joining DNEG is not just another job – it’s an opportunity to work with my friends and to join a family of like-minded creatives who are doing what we all love... creating amazing productions that provide joy and amazement to all who witness them.”

DNEG was recently honored with two Visual Effects Society Awards, for its work on space biopic First Man and Netflix cyberpunk sci-fi series Altered Carbon. First Man is also nominated for the Best VFX Oscar at the 91st Academy Awards on February 24. DNEG’s stereo work on Mission: Impossible – Fallout was recently singled out for an award; director McQuarrie picked up the Advanced Imaging Society’s “Best 3D Scene of the Year” Award for the stereo work delivered by DNEG and supervised by Turner for the helicopter chase sequence.

The DNEG TV teams in L.A., Vancouver and Montréal are currently working on a number of high-profile TV shows such as Catch-22, The Boys and Star Trek: Discovery. DNEG is also in production on a slate of highly anticipated film projects, including Avengers: Endgame, Hobbs & Shaw and Wonder Woman 1984.

Brand experience agency Cogs & Marvel has brought design director Brittnell Anderson aboard its San Francisco office. A creative technologist and designer, Anderson will collaborate with the agency’s U.S. and Dublin, Ireland teams to further expand and strengthen its ability to deliver impactful brand moments in physical spaces.

For much of his career, Anderson has excelled at navigating the line between design and technology, using his knowledge of 3D modeling, motion-graphic animation and effects, filming and editing, and emerging tech to help brands better connect to their audiences. At Cogs & Marvel, he will continue to leverage these skills to conceptualize, prototype, illustrate and develop events, spaces and experiences. This will also include the creation of materials for initial client presentations and refining experiential concepts to inform final design and implementation.

“I joined Cogs & Marvel because I really enjoy the brand experience space and feel it’s a very dynamic and varied area to be in, full of so much opportunity for rich media storytelling,” explained Anderson. “The potential clients and areas for exploration are nearly limitless. I was also drawn to the fact that here I’ll have the opportunity to have some real impact on our direction and growth.”

Before joining the West Coast hub, Anderson was the longtime design director and creative technologist at brand consulting and design agency Landor. There he worked with a variety of clients, from Fortune 10 corporations to local non-profit organizations, on projects ranging from international brand launches to rapid internal prototyping and concept work. Most notably, Anderson helped concept and create a recent AR-activated launch experience for Accenture’s Innovation Hub in India and assisted in visualizing Accenture’s new office space within San Francisco’s Salesforce Tower.

He also co-founded the animation studio Cinematico, and created the Japan-based streetwear clothing line Numlok. Over the course of his career, his work has earned multiple awards, including a Gold and Bronze Cannes Lion and a Graphis Design gold for his work with ODC Dance Company.

“Britt will be tasked with helping us communicate the big ideas required to create transformative experiences that deliver on our goal to change people, whether that means assumptions or behaviors,” said Cogs & Marvel’s U.S. CEO Roisin Callaghan.

“Britt’s skill set pairs environmental design and 3d modeling with motion and animation chops,” adds Cogs & Marvel creative director Jamie Shaw. “Because we’re interested in pushing the creative possibilities, it made sense to bolster our capabilities in terms of mapping and rendering any idea we dream up, no matter how fantastical. Britt delivers that and much, much more.”

MONO has promoted Andrew Voss to design director, a newly formed position at the Minneapolis-based agency. In this new role, Voss will work closely with executive creative director Vanessa Fortier to continue to elevate the creative and design work coming out of the agency. A former creative at the shop, he is now responsible for managing the MONO design team, leading all design-driven work and mentoring creative staff, while working closely with chief growth officer Jeffrey Gorder and chief talent officer Julie Vessel to bring in new business opportunities and recruit top creative talent.

“Design is at the center of MONO and has been since day one,” said Chris Lange, founder and chief creative officer. “Andrew is not only a fantastic designer, but a leader and inspiration to people across our entire agency.”

Voss, who’s been with MONO for four years and spent 14 years in the industry, has a proven track record of executing award-winning work ranging from television to quick turn social media visuals to digital and experiential concepts. Client work includes Walmart, Target, Cadillac, Polaris and H&R Block. Voss also led the recent MONO rebrand, which was unveiled this past summer.

“MONO truly respects and honors the design process,” said Voss. “By engaging everyone on our design team – an art director, designer, and copywriter – in the very beginning stages of a project and building trust, communication, and consensus, we’re creating exciting work and an exceptional team culture.”

Framestore has brought Graham Dunglinson aboard as executive producer, based out of the company’s New York office.

Dunglinson will work alongside EP Dez Macleod-Veilleux to help grow the business as well as oversee New York-based projects. Framestore’s NY office--under the aegis of its managing director, Charles Howell--is set to continue its growth in 2019 as the company will be moving to the Financial District from its Soho offices.

Dunglinson began his career in VFX at The Mill in London. With over two decades of experience he has produced award-winning projects for global brands, including M&M, Old Spice, Microsoft, Captain Morgan, and Geico. In 2018, he was sr. VFX producer on IHOP’s first campaign with Droga5.

He has regularly worked with companies such as Eight VFX and Method, as well as Framestore. He said of Framestore, “The company has expanded so much since I first began working with the team, and I am continually impressed by the growing caliber of work. I am looking forward to working with our outstanding talent and further exploring creative ways of telling stories with our clients.”

In his new role, DeHaven will oversee the overall creative function and vision for 3AM, the company’s innovation group. In addition, he will be responsible for continuing to grow the business, establish the tone and pace of the company, and build a team environment that delivers on their mission of shaping the future of entertainment marketing. He will partner with current ECD Chris Eyerman and report directly to Wild Card’s CEO, Alison Temple.

“As we strive to be as innovative as possible in how we tell stories for films, TV, games and brands, Evan’s diverse experience is critical,” said Temple. “We will look to Evan in his new role to help us continue to deliver experiences our clients and their audiences are seeking.”

Prior to landing at Wild Card, DeHaven managed internal production for 72andSunny as a CD in Hecho En 72. In his two years there he worked with brands including Google, Activision, Murad, Instagram, Coors, Starbucks, Infiniti, Adidas, Syfy, YouTube, the city of L.A., and Carls Jr.

Before that DeHaven was the global brand director at Nike overseeing marketing across categories and territories world-wide for Nike’s customization efforts and NIKEiD. Prior to Nike, he spent time working at agencies including Genex, 65 Media, DNA Studios, Chiat\Day, JWT, Ogilvy, W+K, Schematic, and CPB.

He brings more than 20 years of experience in the entertainment and advertising industries to Wild Card.

Kelly Martin has joined Wondros as head of production. She will collaborate with a diverse roster of directors--under the aegis of EP of commercials Sophie Gold--that includes Gerald McMorrow, Antoine Fuqua, Jesse Dylan, Dennie Gordon, duo Riess|Hill, and recently signed Jeff Yeats, Sean Thonson and Henry Littlechild.

Martin’s career began at MTV Networks in New York, before jumping continents to work for MTV Networks Australia. Afterwards, Martin worked as a line producer on projects for clients such as Marriott, Stella Artois, Levi’s, and Sony. Before joining Wondros, Martin was with B-Reel Films as head of production, where she oversaw all in-house and freelance production teams from prep to wrap.

“I’ve been a fan of Wondros for a long time,” noted Martin, “and I am excited to work with not only the very talented roster of Directors, but also alongside its inimitable executive producer Sophie Gold. I hope to support Wondros’ robust directorial roster with my years of experience in executing commercial film production, as well as producing episodic domestic and international television. We want to produce competitive bids that open our directors up to new and exciting clients and opportunities, shooting here on U.S. shores and beyond.”